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Celebrating two years of inspiring future innovators
Published on 27 February 2025
Schools engagement programme has helped over 1,500 students to explore STEAM careers
Milton Park is celebrating the second anniversary of Explore, its schools engagement initiative.
Thanks to the 84 volunteers across 27 Milton Park based occupiers, the Explore Programme has created 12,560 meaningful encounters between local students and companies.
According to research, a young person who has four or more meaningful encounters with employers while still at school is nearly 90% less likely to be unemployed or Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) in their 20s.
During the two years, Explore Milton Park has worked with over 1,500 students to improve their skills and confidence. The programme’s activities showcase the breadth of exciting careers in science, technology and business at Milton Park whilst creating a potential pipeline of local talent.
Partnering students from Didcot Girls School, St Birinus School, King Alfred’s Academy and UTC Oxfordshire, over 90% of the students who took part reported an increased understanding of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) careers. 92% said it helped them think about their future goals whilst 94% felt more aware of the opportunities available at Milton Park.
During the two years, various events have taken place in schools, such as interview practices, teacher professional development and panel discussions – including a couple of all-female STEAM panels – alongside several events at Milton Park, such as work experience placements and takeover days.
Students also took part in several ‘Trek Days’, where they visited a range of Park occupiers in one day. A tour of Tokamak Energy’s fusion facilities, a pipette challenge at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, taking old laptops apart at Planet IT and detecting gases at Crowcon were just some of the activities that the students participated in.
Reflecting on a Trek Day, a Year 10 student said: “It was very interesting seeing different types of jobs you can get and how you can climb to get higher roles.” Whilst one of their teachers commented: “The programme was facilitated brilliantly, and the inspiring volunteers were excellent. Lots of students went back to school buzzing.”
The programme also delivered benefits for the volunteers. Everyone who took part reported an improved understanding of young people’s career aspirations, 98% said the Explore Milton Park programme helped their company meet social value and ESG goals and 93% agreed it enhanced their communication and leadership skills.
Claire Rasmussen, a volunteer from Tokamak Energy, said: “I haven’t participated in an event like this before. I didn’t know what to expect but the young people I spoke to were inspirational!”
As Explore Milton Park moves into its third year, the plan is to include more schools and reach more students with two flagship day-long events on ‘Sustainable Futures’ and ‘Biotech’, as well as further interview practices and STEAM careers panels.
Anna Fletcher, Senior Marketing and Communications Manager at Milton Park, said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers who have dedicated their time and expertise to inspire the next generation.
“An innovation community such as Milton Park needs a wide range of skill sets to grow and thrive; from scientists, engineers and technicians, to finance, marketing and human resources. Explore Milton Park gives young people a chance to see what careers might inspire them and we look forward to hopefully seeing some working at the Park one day.”
Leonie Matthews, Programme Manager at Ahead Partnership said: “Milton Park is an excellent example of the positive impact that businesses can have when they come together to support the next generation of talent.
“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Milton Park to connect even more young people with inspirational role models through new flagship events in 2025.”
Volunteers taking part in the Explore Milton Park programme include: Adaptimmune, Alamy, Arctoris, ASA Landscape Architects, Ashdown Phillips, Baker Hughes, Brand Asylum, Carbon: Colour, Crossland Solicitors, Crowcon, EnSilica, Evotec, First Bus, Hachette, Ipsen, M:M Bio, Middleton Advisors, Oakford Advisors, Oberlanders, Planet IT, RM Education, Tokamak Energy, University of the West of England, Vertex, WaveOptics, Whittards of Chelsea and Zonal.
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